So our whole family is sitting on the couch watching You Tube videos of Tim Hawkins. What a Hoot! If you have never seen any of his stuff, you really ought to check it out. Our favorite one is "Smells Like Birthday Cake".
Anyway, after watching several of these silly videos, Caleb gets the idea of being a little stinker and pulling a prank on dad. Caleb gets a glass from the cabinet in the kitchen fills it with water. He spills some on the floor so that someone will slip on it later. (We had just finished a video of slipping on a banana peel) Then he comes over with ZERO warning that he is up to something, and proceeds to dump the glass of cold water right over Johns head. Well, John took it in good humor and we all laughed and laughed. Thank goodness for all involved that Caleb did not pick me. I am certain my reaction would have been something quite different. :)
So after a good 2 minutes of belly roll laughing, Caleb decides to go get more water. Except he forgets about his "trap" and slips and falls in it himself. Now this would have been extremely funny had he not got hurt. But true to life, he breaks the glass and has not only a good bonk on his bottom and arm but also little glass pieces everywhere. Party is over! John and I run over and access the situation. Between sobs we discover that Caleb has a small glass cut but he is actually crying over the fact that he broke the glass, not over being hurt.
John tells him we don't care about the glass - it is replaceable. What we care about is Caleb because we can't replace him. He calms down and we clean up. 5 minutes later we are all laughing again over the whole thing.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Lake Emily Camping
I don't like camping but this 3 day 2 night adventure was actually really fun.
We drove up to Lake Emily because this is the lake and camping area John's family use to vacation in years ago. He spoke so highly of it and I could see why. The lake was super clean and camping area was free of mosquitos and it had real showers and flush toilets. Here are some cute pics Aunt Kiki took.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Evansville Police
Remember that David wants to be a policeman when he grows up and it will make this post even funnier.
Today at Jennys house of child care I had Olivia (3), Naarah (1), Parker (8) and my 3 sons. We are happily playing outside in the mid morning enjoying the cool 60 something weather.
Knowing that soon we will be going to the library for a scheduled class for David I begin to convince the kids to go inside for a snack.
As they are eating, I run out to the van to wrangle yet another car seat into the back bench of my van. I have half of my body in and half of my body out, twisting this darn seat into place when I hear it behind me. A low and very purposeful growling dog. I freeze. I move my eyes to see where the dog is. I see nothing but believe me I HEAR something very clearly telling me it is there. I turn my head - still I see nothing. I slowly and carefully back out of the van and now I see it. Not a dog I recognize. (there are plenty on this street - half of which at some time have been in my yard before) It is between my garage and the neighbors fence (about 2 feet in width filled to the overflow with tiger lillies in bloom) It is about the size and build of a German Shepard but it is white and brown. It looks like it might be stuck or injured but I don't stick around long enough to find out for sure.
As I looked it over a few seconds it gets more and more angry and vocal about its irritation with me being in its space. I walk backwards slowly to the porch. I stand there for a minute deciding if I will call the police or just go in grab my pepper spray and a baseball bat and get on with it. I go call the Evansville police - (I did have a grandma who talked some sense into me). Well truth be known I grabbed the baseball bat first, then reconsidered. 'Didn't think it would be good to have the kids see that. Imagine what Caleb would have thought the NEXT time I gave him the 3 count! HA!
40 minutes later the police show up. It is the officer in town that looks like he is 12. I kid you not. He has pulled me over before (for a brake light that was burned out) and I am thinking - oh wonderful. A houseful of kiddos and you are going to be the man standing between me and that dog - should have gotten the bat and pepper spray.
After a short amount of investigating he determines he needs help. (no kidding!) He calls animal control at the Rock County Humane Society. They will be 20 - 30 minutes in arriving. He asks if he can just pull into the driveway and sit in his vehicle to watch if the dog decides to venture out. I say sure, but if he would rather, he could sit on the back screened-in porch with me and my kiddos. He comes in.
David is elated! The police man is here - new blood to talk too! David announces:"My mom is in the middle of making Snickerdoodles -she makes the best cookies ever!" He smiles and I offer him one like the little Susie homemaker that I am. He accepts. In return he offers an Evansville 'Junior Officer ' badge sticker to each of my bambinos. Again David is elated. At this gesture David feels it is necessary to tell him every thing David can remember that is related to policemen. Including my recent speeding escapade.
David: "My mom was speeding, going 13 over the limit, and she forgot to use the radar detector and the police put on the lights, but luckily mom got grace because she, like never speeds, or anything."
Today at Jennys house of child care I had Olivia (3), Naarah (1), Parker (8) and my 3 sons. We are happily playing outside in the mid morning enjoying the cool 60 something weather.
Knowing that soon we will be going to the library for a scheduled class for David I begin to convince the kids to go inside for a snack.
As they are eating, I run out to the van to wrangle yet another car seat into the back bench of my van. I have half of my body in and half of my body out, twisting this darn seat into place when I hear it behind me. A low and very purposeful growling dog. I freeze. I move my eyes to see where the dog is. I see nothing but believe me I HEAR something very clearly telling me it is there. I turn my head - still I see nothing. I slowly and carefully back out of the van and now I see it. Not a dog I recognize. (there are plenty on this street - half of which at some time have been in my yard before) It is between my garage and the neighbors fence (about 2 feet in width filled to the overflow with tiger lillies in bloom) It is about the size and build of a German Shepard but it is white and brown. It looks like it might be stuck or injured but I don't stick around long enough to find out for sure.
As I looked it over a few seconds it gets more and more angry and vocal about its irritation with me being in its space. I walk backwards slowly to the porch. I stand there for a minute deciding if I will call the police or just go in grab my pepper spray and a baseball bat and get on with it. I go call the Evansville police - (I did have a grandma who talked some sense into me). Well truth be known I grabbed the baseball bat first, then reconsidered. 'Didn't think it would be good to have the kids see that. Imagine what Caleb would have thought the NEXT time I gave him the 3 count! HA!
40 minutes later the police show up. It is the officer in town that looks like he is 12. I kid you not. He has pulled me over before (for a brake light that was burned out) and I am thinking - oh wonderful. A houseful of kiddos and you are going to be the man standing between me and that dog - should have gotten the bat and pepper spray.
After a short amount of investigating he determines he needs help. (no kidding!) He calls animal control at the Rock County Humane Society. They will be 20 - 30 minutes in arriving. He asks if he can just pull into the driveway and sit in his vehicle to watch if the dog decides to venture out. I say sure, but if he would rather, he could sit on the back screened-in porch with me and my kiddos. He comes in.
David is elated! The police man is here - new blood to talk too! David announces:"My mom is in the middle of making Snickerdoodles -she makes the best cookies ever!" He smiles and I offer him one like the little Susie homemaker that I am. He accepts. In return he offers an Evansville 'Junior Officer ' badge sticker to each of my bambinos. Again David is elated. At this gesture David feels it is necessary to tell him every thing David can remember that is related to policemen. Including my recent speeding escapade.
David: "My mom was speeding, going 13 over the limit, and she forgot to use the radar detector and the police put on the lights, but luckily mom got grace because she, like never speeds, or anything."
David:" In Stoughton my mom got her purse stolen, by 3 people! The 2 women are out of jail now but the man is in prison because he did lots of other bad stuff too! and my dad he has seen like all kinds of accidents. Once my dad saw a man get hit by a car, right here on main street!"
Now in between all this story telling, you need to know the other kids are jumping in and interrupting with their own special stories. I bet he wished he would have sat in his car and had some peace and quiet.
The people from the human society arrive. They have these poles with a loop on the end to trap the dogs neck. As they begin to trap the dog we see it come out of its hiding place and realize it is not hurt nor is it trapped or stuck and it is very unhappy. I run and get the video camera because I am pretty sure we are going to have an insurance claim coming on behalf of that policeman, I really thought the dog was stuck or injured back there, but it wasn't. Thankfully it was hard for the kids to see what they were doing in the bushes because there was a lot of high pitched screeching and barking and then they emerge with dog in trap and they lead it/drag it to the cage in the human society van.
Thank goodness it never ventured out into the main part of our yard - can you imagine? How would I have protected all 6 kids against that dog? It really freaked me out when I realized it was free to roam about, but just didn't.
Before the policeman left he said thanks for the cookie and how now we would have a good story to tell. I thought to myself:"Dude we don't need an angry stray dog for a good story to tell - all we need is to get up in the morning - this mom business is loaded with good stories to tell and I have a years worth of blog entries to prove it."
Friday, July 10, 2009
Spelunking
Spelunking - that is cave exploring for those who aren't familiar to the word.
After church on Sunday we headed over to the Cave of the Mounds to go check out the natural wonder of the underground.
Does it seem like we are trying to live a whole year in the months of June and July to you? That is how it feels to me. It has been a whirl wind of activities for our boys. That is the thing about summer. You may not be paying $250 a month to heat your house but you are spending $250 a month to make the most of the little good weather you get! But let me tell ya I am glad to do it. I LOVE Summer about as much as I LOATHE winter.
We took the boys thru the 1 hour guided tour of the cave. David was really interested. Caleb enjoyed it, Nathan was a complete pill. Not only was he a stinker in attitude thru most of the tour he also pooped his pants about 1/4 of the way into the tour. I am sure the other guided tour guests where thrilled to be in the tour with us. Nathan was stinker, smell and all. ARGH! My arm went numb carrying him thru the dark, wet, slippery cave. My little wiggle poppy butt boy, what joy.
After we got out of the cave we mined for gold and gems at their "pan for gold" area. All the boys really enjoyed this. Caleb's treasures were fossils. David's treasures were gem stones and Nathan's treasures were arrowheads. (well and the diaper we thru in the trash was quite a treasure in its own)
We didn't get any pictures of it. Can't imagine why.
After church on Sunday we headed over to the Cave of the Mounds to go check out the natural wonder of the underground.
Does it seem like we are trying to live a whole year in the months of June and July to you? That is how it feels to me. It has been a whirl wind of activities for our boys. That is the thing about summer. You may not be paying $250 a month to heat your house but you are spending $250 a month to make the most of the little good weather you get! But let me tell ya I am glad to do it. I LOVE Summer about as much as I LOATHE winter.
We took the boys thru the 1 hour guided tour of the cave. David was really interested. Caleb enjoyed it, Nathan was a complete pill. Not only was he a stinker in attitude thru most of the tour he also pooped his pants about 1/4 of the way into the tour. I am sure the other guided tour guests where thrilled to be in the tour with us. Nathan was stinker, smell and all. ARGH! My arm went numb carrying him thru the dark, wet, slippery cave. My little wiggle poppy butt boy, what joy.
After we got out of the cave we mined for gold and gems at their "pan for gold" area. All the boys really enjoyed this. Caleb's treasures were fossils. David's treasures were gem stones and Nathan's treasures were arrowheads. (well and the diaper we thru in the trash was quite a treasure in its own)
We didn't get any pictures of it. Can't imagine why.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
4th of July
Yet another fair, parade, and fireworks at our friends the Chavez-Mueller lined our festivities to celebrate our nations independence.
Our little community is great for this kind of thing. We are able to walk to the parade route and see many of our friends in the floats. I love spending the 4th in Evansville, it is the pinnacle of small town goodness. As we watched the veterans go by I heard David say to Caleb "Those are the soldiers who went to war and came back without dying!"
Our baseball coach was driving one of the big fire engines and David was jumping up and down yelling "Coach Bill, Coach Bill" They throw candy, freezy pops and even string cheese - it is indeed small town WI.
The fair has cheese, cheese and more cheese. Cheese curds, cheesy games, and cheesy entertainment. But praise the Lord they have cotton candy too. So we had 3 boys a blue. (The cotton candy was blue and Very Messy!)
To top off the evening we went to a cookout at the Chavez-Mueller's and watched the fireworks and became the buffet for the hungry mosquito's. What a good time. We made an American flag cake with the kids and got some great pictures of the event.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Stoughton Fair
We went to the Stoughton fair a few days after going out on the pontoon. We gave each child $10 to spend at the fair. (Yes we are cheap.)
We gave them the option to spend it on tickets for rides, cash for games, or for fair food. David picked rides, Caleb and Nathan picked games. This seemed to be consistent with their personalities. Except of course after all the money was spent we were still begged to buy cotton candy and cheese curds.
David got to go on the bumble bees, the fun house, and the bumper cars. It was a little weird to see David on the bumper cars this year. He was much more confident than last year and was much more the bumper than the bumpee. Again smiles from ear to ear.
Caleb and Nathan picked a turtle (used to be pick a duck game - guess they got bored with that and wanted to change it up a bit) and got a light up light saber as a toy prize. That is honestly all he needed to make his day.
So now in the weapon bin we have a pirate sword, 4 star wars light sabers, his fair light saber, 2 other swords with matching sheaths, a lego sword from Lego land, and a foam jousting sword. For goodness sake, that is a lot of swords for 3 boys. That doesn't include all the other nerf guns weapons - just our swords.
Nathan and Caleb played against each other in the squirt gun game (twice) so that each of them got a stuffed animal puppy. (Which are now in the stuffed animal bin that already contains over 30 stuffed puppies)
Afterwords we received the 25 requests for cheese curds and cotton candy. Which we said no to because their money was all gone. (well and we knew 2 days later we were going to the Evansville Fair which has no rides but lots of food). So off to the animals we went. This distracted them from the tempting food and the mean parents who stuck to the plan.
Nathan was soooooo cute in the animal area. He loved the roosters showing off and really enjoyed the cows. We were able to watch the cows getting milked and Caleb was pretty wide eyed watching that. Believe it or not we got thru all the animal houses without any kid stepping in poop.
We gave them the option to spend it on tickets for rides, cash for games, or for fair food. David picked rides, Caleb and Nathan picked games. This seemed to be consistent with their personalities. Except of course after all the money was spent we were still begged to buy cotton candy and cheese curds.
David got to go on the bumble bees, the fun house, and the bumper cars. It was a little weird to see David on the bumper cars this year. He was much more confident than last year and was much more the bumper than the bumpee. Again smiles from ear to ear.
Caleb and Nathan picked a turtle (used to be pick a duck game - guess they got bored with that and wanted to change it up a bit) and got a light up light saber as a toy prize. That is honestly all he needed to make his day.
So now in the weapon bin we have a pirate sword, 4 star wars light sabers, his fair light saber, 2 other swords with matching sheaths, a lego sword from Lego land, and a foam jousting sword. For goodness sake, that is a lot of swords for 3 boys. That doesn't include all the other nerf guns weapons - just our swords.
Nathan and Caleb played against each other in the squirt gun game (twice) so that each of them got a stuffed animal puppy. (Which are now in the stuffed animal bin that already contains over 30 stuffed puppies)
Afterwords we received the 25 requests for cheese curds and cotton candy. Which we said no to because their money was all gone. (well and we knew 2 days later we were going to the Evansville Fair which has no rides but lots of food). So off to the animals we went. This distracted them from the tempting food and the mean parents who stuck to the plan.
Nathan was soooooo cute in the animal area. He loved the roosters showing off and really enjoyed the cows. We were able to watch the cows getting milked and Caleb was pretty wide eyed watching that. Believe it or not we got thru all the animal houses without any kid stepping in poop.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Our trip on the pontoon
John and I have lived in the Madison area for 15 years and we seldom enjoy the beautiful lakes here. So we decided to rent a pontoon boat last week and head out to fish and enjoy the lakes.
We found a great little place near Stoughton on Lake Kegonsa that rents canoes and pontoons. We called a bunch of friends and headed out after church.
The smiles on David and Caleb's faces were ear to ear when we started out. Non stop chatter of excitement to be on the lake. It was priceless to see Caleb's face when Aunt Kiki jumped off the boat into the lake. It was part amazement, part fear, and part jealous. Here are some pics:
(Thanks Merrick for running the show on the lake for us!)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Kid's really do say some funny stuff!
A few random phases I heard yesterday and today - thought you might enjoy:
Olivia -(3 year old daycare girl) -" I don't have to pray at my house before I eat."
My response - "You do here. "
Olivia "Thank you God for this food...... can I eat now?"
Caleb (at the lake fishing) "What is that noise?"
Me "Those are frogs"
Caleb "Oh, I thought they were dinosaurs"
Caleb again "Do dinosaurs eat people?"
Me "Yes, but they are extinct"
Caleb " They stink people!"
Me "No they are EXTINCT - that means they are dead and gone forever and the frogs don't eat people either"
Olivia "I don't have to say 'may I be excused' at my house I just yell I'M DONE!!!!!!"
Me - "You are not at home"
Olivia "May I be excused?"
David (at the grocery store) "Don't ask Caleb - you know mom will say no."
Me - I said yes just to throw them a curve (well they were oreos)
Nathan being disobedient at the library -
I give him the 3 count - he reaches 3
Caleb exclaims "That's 3 mom - (turning to Nathan) boy are you in trouble!" (add Librarian laughing in background)
2 minutes later I am checking out a book and I hear Caleb giving Nathan the 3 count - add more librarian chuckling
At the grocery store checkout - the woman in front of me says:
"I have been watching your kids all thru the store and I just want to say they are so well behaved! Here is 4 dollars buy them all a treat on me." ( I stand with my jaw on the floor)
David - smile from ear to ear - "Can I have a hershey bar?"
Caleb - "M and M's!!!! Thanks!!!!! I have to go potty!"
Nathan as I hand him a kit kat "Yes - yes"
Nathan at the lake - (I point out the weird bird/duck walking thru the swampy area) "Moo"
Caleb and I start laughing - Caleb - "That is not a Moo Nathan"
David at the lake fishing - "I am a master at casting - look mom"
He misfires and it plops into the lake about 1 inch from him. A minute later he casts but lets go and his whole pole ends up in the lake.
David at the lake fishing again - " I caught a fish - I caught a fish!'
Me "Reel it in"
as soon as it gets close he freaks out "It's splashing"
John "If you get it out of the water it will stop splashing."
David "I don't want to touch it"
Caleb "Can I touch it?"
Nathan "FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH"
David (HOT day when all 3 boys have their shirts off) "Am I the only one in this family that has no fat on them?"
Me "Are you saying I am fat?"
David "Uhmm (hesitated) No?"
Me "Ok then"
Olivia -(3 year old daycare girl) -" I don't have to pray at my house before I eat."
My response - "You do here. "
Olivia "Thank you God for this food...... can I eat now?"
Caleb (at the lake fishing) "What is that noise?"
Me "Those are frogs"
Caleb "Oh, I thought they were dinosaurs"
Caleb again "Do dinosaurs eat people?"
Me "Yes, but they are extinct"
Caleb " They stink people!"
Me "No they are EXTINCT - that means they are dead and gone forever and the frogs don't eat people either"
Olivia "I don't have to say 'may I be excused' at my house I just yell I'M DONE!!!!!!"
Me - "You are not at home"
Olivia "May I be excused?"
David (at the grocery store) "Don't ask Caleb - you know mom will say no."
Me - I said yes just to throw them a curve (well they were oreos)
Nathan being disobedient at the library -
I give him the 3 count - he reaches 3
Caleb exclaims "That's 3 mom - (turning to Nathan) boy are you in trouble!" (add Librarian laughing in background)
2 minutes later I am checking out a book and I hear Caleb giving Nathan the 3 count - add more librarian chuckling
At the grocery store checkout - the woman in front of me says:
"I have been watching your kids all thru the store and I just want to say they are so well behaved! Here is 4 dollars buy them all a treat on me." ( I stand with my jaw on the floor)
David - smile from ear to ear - "Can I have a hershey bar?"
Caleb - "M and M's!!!! Thanks!!!!! I have to go potty!"
Nathan as I hand him a kit kat "Yes - yes"
Nathan at the lake - (I point out the weird bird/duck walking thru the swampy area) "Moo"
Caleb and I start laughing - Caleb - "That is not a Moo Nathan"
David at the lake fishing - "I am a master at casting - look mom"
He misfires and it plops into the lake about 1 inch from him. A minute later he casts but lets go and his whole pole ends up in the lake.
David at the lake fishing again - " I caught a fish - I caught a fish!'
Me "Reel it in"
as soon as it gets close he freaks out "It's splashing"
John "If you get it out of the water it will stop splashing."
David "I don't want to touch it"
Caleb "Can I touch it?"
Nathan "FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH"
David (HOT day when all 3 boys have their shirts off) "Am I the only one in this family that has no fat on them?"
Me "Are you saying I am fat?"
David "Uhmm (hesitated) No?"
Me "Ok then"
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